pumpkin shrimp curry
As the weather is starting to warm up, it's almost time to bid adieu to the root veggies of winter so this recipe that uses both butternut squash and pumpkin, plus all the warming spices like ginger, curry and cayenne, seemed like a great last hurrah. It also packs a...
breakfast tostada
The weekend is in sight and since my last post was about the advantages of having breakfast at home, let's run with another idea of something that feels like you're at a restaurant with all the benefits of still being in your PJs. I like breakfast burritos but often...
a better benedict
We rarely go out for breakfast, much to the disappointment I think of my husband, Devin. I just prefer the coziness of ambling out of bed on the weekend, making a great cup of Nespresso and seeing what I can throw together from what is in the fridge. Plus, breakfast...
cranberry walnut banana bread
It's the kind of day that makes me want to bake something. It's cloudy and windy and I'm stuck inside so why not fill the house with warm, yummy smells? This is a slippery slope though fueled by visions of comfort food – macaroni and cheese, cakes, cookies. But I'm...
the new healthy
I started off my year by doing the Bon Appétit Food Lover's Cleanse – a two week menu that highlighted whole foods and shirked things like refined sugars, flours, and most dairy. Not only was it delicious but it was eye opening and while I don't think I'll be giving...
cleanse cocktails part two
While I was in the midst of the Bon Appétit Food Lover's Cleanse a couple weeks ago I had written about one of the cocktails they had included with the plan (really – how can you not like a cleanse that builds in cocktails?) – the Winter's Revival. Feeling, er,...
dessert on the cleanse
When I make dessert it's usually a special occasion and I attack it with gusto – figuring that anything that is going to impress is probably going to take a couple days to make and there's most likely a lot of butter, sugar, eggs or chocolate involved. Or all of the...
cleanse cocktail
Cleanse cocktail? Isn't that an oxymoron? It conjured up visions of a drink that would include kale and vinegar with maybe some cayenne and garlic and that would involve plugging my nose to gag down. Boy was I happily surprised when I scanned the ingredients and it...
persimmon bruschetta
My friend Heather is in the process of moving from Boise to Los Gatos and normally I'd do an intervention – siting that she must be temporarily insane to give up the clean air, easy access to mountains and rivers and a bounty of friends for the high cost of living,...
poached pear and frangipane tart
I didn't even know how to pronounce it, let alone know what it was but on the glossy pages of the cookbook it looked beautiful, was seasonal and once I figured out that frangipane was a filling made with almonds, butter, sugar and rum – well what's not to love about...
the silkiest carrot soup. ever.
There's a soup swap that we've been invited to the last couple of years and while "swap" may sound innocent enough, my husband Devin and I both translate this into "competition". You can read about how the event works here but what's most important in our minds is...
cranberry margarita
I read somewhere once that a good host should always greet their guests at the door with a drink in their hand. That it automatically puts everyone at ease and sets the tone for the evening. This is protocol I can live with. For dinner parties, it's usually a glass of...
nat’s roasted mushroom soup
It's something we have talked about doing for months, if not years, but you know how it is – even the best intentions aren't enough sometimes. That's when I just have to make it happen. Pick a date, put it on the calendar and make a point to carve out the time. Awhile...
goat cheese, pesto and dried tomato torta
Dip season (aka: the holidays) are coming up and this is one that I have made for years that is always a major crowd pleaser, plus with its red and green colors, it suits the season. If you need to put this together in a snap, it's easy to buy all the components and...
say {goat} cheese
I love cheese. It's that simple. Really, what isn't better with a little cheese? And I know I won't hear any arguments on that from my cheesehead husband. But while loving cheese is simple, making it seemed anything but. Ricotta appeared to be the training wheels of...
it’s like vegetable candy
It happens at the end of each summer – I have more tomatoes that I hardly know what to do with. The freezer is already full of marinara, and I've eaten them for what feels like breakfast, lunch and dinner for weeks. But I know that when the bounty is gone and I'm...
roasted tomatillo salsa
When we planted our community garden I think it's fair to say that we got a bit carried away with the tomatillos. I'm not sure if we didn't fully realize how big the plants get or maybe we didn't grasp the sheer amount of fruit that one plant yields. I claim ignorance...
you can take the girl out of the farm
I didn't realize when we sold my old freezer what a hole it would leave and I'm not talking about the big space where shiny bright white storage cabinets are now. It was probably time for it to go. My to-be husband had just moved in and we were trying to find room for...